750MC January Autotest, 08/01/17

Just a quick report from the weekend. Well, I drove like a complete tube. Out of 9 competitors the only guys I beat were the two complete novices that I chucked into the Dutton, and one of them was bloody close to making me look bad.

On the plus side, the modifications have cost me a feckin' fortune, but have obviously been worth it. The fact that someone could just jump into a car with no experience and run me close shows how much more compliant the car is now. It's going to take some re-learning for me!

One thing that I did notice is that the split braking system will take a bit of getting used to. Trying to get the car stopped let me to sliding clean through the finish gate a few times before I figured out what was happening. Using the footbrake only just locks the fronts and you head straight to the scene of the accident. You need to remember to apply the handbrake, too, if you want to actually stop the car quickly. Of course, this is completely logical, just not something I thought of, not before it cost me a few penalties, anyway.

The power steering is just bloody brilliant. 16psi front pressures and it's light as a feather. Money well and truly well spent. However, we need to make a couple more brackets for the upper column as it's moving independently of the bottom. Makes sense as I guess it's meant to be the collapsible part. Easy solved.

One area of minor concern is that the car is obviously running rich. It was popping and spluttering and backfiring through the carb at the start of the day. Took the plugs out and they were really sooty. Wound back the mixture a touch and it run a good bit better, but it really does need setting up properly with a CO gauge, etc.

But, yeah. Shite result but a good shakedown. All three of us got a full day of sport and the other two are now hooked. Next one in roughly a month if pregnant wife can hold off a bit...

PS - Also gave a wee shot to another guy who has had a Phaeton languishing in a shed since 2004. Hopefully this will re-ignite his enthusiasm for it, as he wasn't exactly bad, other than a minor cone interaction! See videos...